Roto Riteup: July 17, 2017

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July 17, 2017

The defense rests, your honor! #AllRise

Jackie Bradley Jr. made a fantastic catch in the triangle to rob Aaron Judge of his 31st homer run. Judge was 1-for-9 in the doubleheader and he’s just 1-for-18 coming out of the break. Guess the Home Run Derby ruined him after all. ?

On the Agenda:

  • Quintana’s Debut
  • Doolittle, Madson to WSH
  • Trade Candidates
  • Rendon Wrecks Reds
  • Price Strong Again
  • Turner’s Lefty Domination
  • Other News
  • WTWT

I’ll be filling in for Justin all week so I’ll adjust my schedule to make sure the rest of these are up early in the morning per usual! 

Quintana’s Debut

Jose Quintana made a great first impression with his new club, firing seven scoreless, allowing just three hits and striking out 12 against a familiar opponent in the Baltimore Orioles. The Cubs completed the sweep, handling them 10-3 and 8-0 on the weekend after nearly blowing an 8-0 lead on Friday.

Doolittle, Madson to WSH

The Washington Nationals finally addressed their bullpen in a huge way, acquiring Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson from the Oakland A’s for Blake Treinen, Sheldon Neuse, and Jesus Luzardo. Both arms have been fantastic this year and substantially improve what has been a nightmarish bullpen for the Nats.

  • Doolittle: 39% K, 3% BB, 3.38 ERA, and 0.66 WHIP in 21.3 IP
  • Madson: 27% K, 4% BB, 2.06 ERA, and 0.79 WHIP in 39.3 IP

Just about any two pitchers would help a 5.31 ERA bullpen, the league’s worst mark, but adding two impact arms is huge. They haven’t decided who will close just yet and I’m not entirely certain that they’re done making moves. They could still get David Robertson from Chicago and keep both Doolittle and Madson in setup roles.

Neuse and Luzardo were 2nd and 3rd picks from the 2016 draft. Meanhwile, Treinen is actually returning to the A’s, his original organization. The A’s drafted him in the 7th round of the 2011 draft. Well, the Marlins drafted him in the 23rd round of 2010, but he didn’t sign. He was traded to Washington in a 2013 deal.

Trade Candidates

Trade rumors are getting hotter by the day, so here’s a quick look at the teams likely to sell and the pieces they’re most likely to move:

Buster Olney identifies five of these will definitely be traded. Jon Heyman links Gray to the Brewers. MLB Trade Rumors has the Rays chasing Wilson. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned to the twitter feeds of Olney, Heyman, and Ken Rosenthal, too.

Rendon Wrecks Reds

When debating how good Anthony Rendon has been this year, Daniel Murphy is out here asking the appropriate questions:

I’m personally going with Nolan Arenado as the top 3B if we’re doing a refresh MLB draft right now, but Rendon has been amazing. For me, his hitting prowess has never been in question. It’s merely a matter of health, which has eluded him regularly throughout his career, dating back to his college days at Rice.

By WAR, Rendon has easily been the best 3B in the league this year so I get where the Nats are coming from in the debate. Rendon savaged the Reds with three multi-hit games, going 7-for-11 with 3 HR, 9 RBI, and 4 R in 14 PA. By the ESPN Player Rater, Jose Ramirez and Arenado top Rendon. Who is your favorite fantasy 3B?

Price Strong Again

Don’t look now, but David Price is rolling. He’s an inning shy of seven straight quality starts, posting a 2.66 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 44 innings. He’s been fastball, cutter, changeup this year, with a career-low 7% curveball usage. Even the changeup is a six-year low at 14%, so he’s really been fastball/cutter for the most part, especially yesterday when those two pitches accounted for 96% of his 107 pitches during eight scoreless innings. Stifling lefties has been a major key to Price’s success this year with a career-best .452 OPS in 55 PA.

Turner’s Lefty Domination

One of the interesting factors in Justin Turner’s late bloom into a superstar has been his reverse platoon splits. Mashing righties has been instrumental to his success. He rose up with an .890 OPS against righties in 2014 and then followed it up with .908 and .919 marks, adding playing time each season.

He had a .911 OPS against southpaws in 2014, but then fell to .745 in 2015 and just .640 a season ago. He has completely flipped the script on lefties this year, though. He has an obscene 1.365 OPS and .440 AVG in 102 PA with nine homers. He had 13 HRs against them in 430 PA from 2014-16. He’s still handling righties, too, with an .882 OPS, though just two homers in 185 PA.

Other News

  • Joe Ross was moved to the 60-day DL ahead of his Tommy John surgery to clear a spot after the OAK trade
  • Koda Glover was also moved to the 60-day DL with back and shoulder issues
  • Rich Hill is quietly dominating again with a 1.74 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 44 Ks in his last 31 IP
  • Johnny Cueto is latest starter to hit the DL with a blister issue
  • Joe Kelly hit the DL with a hamstring issue
  • Tyler Chatwood suffered a calf injury that put him on the DL
  • Will Harris hit the DL with shoulder inflammation
  • Byron Buxton’s strained left groin will require a DL stint

WTWT

Here’s what to watch tonight:

  • Eduardo Rodriguez returning from the DL to face Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays
  • Jon Lester looks to bounce back from 10-run shellacking in two-thirds of an inning
  • Julio Teheran will try to bring down his hideous 7.58 home ERA against Lester and the Cubs
  • Lance McCullers is a must-watch every fifth day, he hosts the Mariners tonight
  • I’m going to check in on Brent Suter and his 86 mph fastball to see how he’s achieving a 2.96 ERA and 1.21 WHIP through 27.3 IP





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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cartermember
6 years ago

Was the question, “Who is the best 3rd baseman in the game?” His statement makes me wonder how frequently major leaguers go to fangraphs. Like are there some players who check it multiple times daily, and others who have never heard of it?

Suter – I sure hope he has a good week. I added him as a 2 start pitcher in entirely too many weekly leagues. I watched his starts so far, and he has above average offspeed offerings and good control, which he will need to get by throwing 86.

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